My Bestfriend's Girlfriend
by smilingxqueen
Summary: AU: Aerith and Cloud were best of friends since their diaper days. A new semester brings a new face…would it ruin their friendship?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything!

**A/N**: I'm sorry for not updating my other stories. I am a busy girl, sue me...xD No, please don't sue me.. Have fun reading and leave a review at the bottom of this page..thanks! ^^

* * *

BRIIING!!!

The school siren echoed althroughout Shinra Highschool. It was the start of a new semester in the city of Midgar and every student has arrived in their designated classrooms…except for one particular brown-headed girl who was running crazily towards the HS building.

"I'm late!!! And at the start of high school!!" The brunette cried.

In Class 3-B, a blonde head instinctively turned to the windows when the cry reached its ears. Its lips turned into a mock smile as the brown head disappeared from the grounds and into the building.

_10_

_9_

_8_

Heavy panting came out of the girl as she jumped two steps ahead of the stairs. "Gotta make it!!"

_7_

_6_

_5_

The blonde lowered his gaze to its clock to finish the count.

_4_

_3_

_2_

_1_

The classroom door slid opened with a bang, revealing a heaving brown-headed girl that looked like she ran a hundred miles. With a determined look, she took big steps towards the teacher's table and sidestepped to face the whole dumbstrucked class.

"MY NAME IS AERITH GAINSBOROUGH! PLEASED TO MEET YOU ALL!!"

She bowed at the end of her sentence and waited for the teacher to speak. The teacher twitched and blinked his eyes to get back to his senses. He fixed his tie and coughed to the giggling class.

"Ok, Ms. Gainsborough, you can take your seat…"

Aerith bowed to the teacher and walked forward to find herself a seat. Almost all were accommodated except for one at the far end of the class.

_Whaat? _She sighed greatly as she took heavy steps towards her seat. Aerith dropped her bag on her table, disdainfully, and she slumped on her chair. _What a nice start of the year_

Her emerald green eyes surrounded the whole classroom in search of some familiar face. Everyone took a brief look at her and giggled before paying attention to the teacher. She sighed again when she found no one. Last she looked on the blackboard, there were writings of some guidelines to copy. Her spirits were raised a little as there was something to do. Humming, she took out her notebook and pen. When she was about to start writing, her dried flower keychain fell out of her bag and plunked noisily at the floor. Her eyes widened at the sound and she looked down.

_Oh no!_

She bit her lip and reached down to get it but it was nowhere to be found. Aerith furrowed her eyebrows and straightened up.

"Looking for this?"

She rolled her eyes to the side and saw the keychain hanging from a pair of fingers. Aerith quickly took the keychain without looking at the person and murmured a silent thank you.

"You never change… Aerith."

At the end of the person's sentence, she alarmingly turned to the side and was temporarily blinded by the glaring sunlight that came out of the windows. When Aerith had finally recovered her sight, her eyes widened when she saw a familiar spike of blonde locks.

"CLOUD?!"


	2. Change

The blonde smirked at her and threw the keychain in her direction. Aerith caught it softly and whispered a silent 'thanks'. Cloud shrugged and returned his gaze to the windows. The brunette turned her attention to her pen and notebook and began copying from the blackboard. She glanced at Cloud at the end of her eyes and smiled.

_Maybe this beginning wouldn't be so bad after all…_

"Ms. Gainsborough!"

Aerith stood up instantly and looked forward.

"Hai!!"

.-+-.

Aerith sighed as she walked down the hallways with her lunched box in hand. She wanted to get away from the noisy and stuffy classroom and be somewhere quiet enough to contemplate. Her emerald eyes sparkled when she saw the fire exit at the shadowy part of the building. The door creaked slowly and she stepped forward into a breezy balcony. Aerith smiled happily as she took in all the fresh air into her lungs. While enjoying her moment of peace, a voice coughed from behind causing her to stop at the peak of her respiration. She looked back to see two sapphire orbs staring straight at her.

"Cloud?!" She said in a high-pitched voice.

The blonde grimaced at her shock and exhaled heavily. Aerith stared at his pale body open-mouthed. After a few minutes, as to which Aerith was still frozen, the blonde finally took the initiative and spoke, apathetically.

"Stop looking at me like an idiot and sit down."

Aerith dropped down on her knees with books stacked by her side. She placed her lunchbox at her lap and glanced at him.

"Have you eaten yet?" she asked him.

Cloud slightly shook his head and sighed. Aerith frowned as she silently studied her long-time friend. It was 2 years since she had left Midgar without saying goodbye to him so it was no big surprise that he's not that excited in meeting her. The girl pursed her lips and she opened her lunchbox that contained food that she cooked that morning.

"Octopus dogs?"

Her head shot up when those words were registered in her mind. Cloud looked at the oddly shaped hotdogs with nostalgia. When they were kids, Cloud's mom taught them how to make octopus-shaped hotdogs and all kinds of animal-shaped food. Aerith smiled at him and nodded while placing the last of the dogs into a separate container. Cloud's eyes widened when Aerith presented one-half of her lunch to him. Sooner than he could decline, the brunette shoved the box in her arms and swiftly said a prayer before starting to dig in. Cloud blinked at her many times and stared at the food that couldn't even satisfy him.

_You never did change…_ He shook his head and smiled at her.

.-+-.

"Where've you been this past 2 years?"

Aerith stopped eating and looked at him with a single rice hanging from her mouth. The blonde let out a lop-sided smile and took it with his own fingers. The brunette watched him eat with her guilty emerald eyes. Cloud, noticing her silence, swallowed the last of the food in his mouth and stood up.

"If you don't wanna tell me, fine. I can live with that. Heck, I've lived without you for 2 years." He turned his back on her and ran a hand through his blonde locks. "Thanks for the food."

"Wait…"

Cloud looked to the side, waiting for her to speak. Aerith's head was facing the ground as she twiddled with her fingers that rested on her lap. After swallowing hard, she came to a decision.

"I'd like to visit Auntie later. Why don't I come visit after class? I'll tell you everything…" she said with a smile at his direction.

"Heh… Guess you didn't know what happened."

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at his words. How could she know what could've happened? They weren't in touch for 2 years!

"It's better you don't know… See you around, Aerith."

_It couldn't be… _

With one quick movement, Aerith stood up and thwacked the back of Cloud's head with her fist. After the impact, the blonde got down on his knees with his aching head facing the ground. Her breathing grew hoarse as she finished the deed off by placing a foot on his back. She was still in utter shock of how Cloud blew her off like a disregarded stranger. It wasn't like him.

"Since when have you acted this way, Cloud? If you don't want me around fine! Why should I stop seeing Auntie?!"

"She's gone…"

When those words entered her ear, Aerith backed away. Her eyes burned of tears, her throat dry and her hands shook. Cloud wasn't a good liar, she knew that. It just that, she couldn't believe it…didn't want to believe it. She always thought of Cloud's mother as her own. She was shocked, saddened…

"I'm going."

After Cloud walked a few meters ahead of her, the brunette found her tongue and she called out to him.

"Cloud, I…"

The blonde turned to her and smiled a smile that she knew broke his heart.

"You're too late…"


	3. A New Beginning

After walking away, the blonde took one last look at her. The sadness, the guilt in her eyes began to eat away the heated anger that tore at his heart. He had always thought that he'd never forgive her, that she'd never come back. It took 2 days for him to realize she had gone from his town, his life. For 3 months he had waited like a paranoid child for that patterned knock on the door that could only be made by her. But, he thought, why wait for someone who'd never come back? And so, he began to forget her. He occupied himself with things that wouldn't make him remember anything about her. It was bitter work and he managed those years without her, to forget all about her. But, here she is now! Her saucer-like emerald eyes were looking up at him with tears that he thought he'd never see. He wanted to make her smile, laugh again. No one had seen him neither laugh nor smile…he'd never do any of those things without her.

"Cloud…"

Without thinking what he was doing, he faced her with eyes boring straight at her emerald orbs. He needed her, he needed his bestfriend. As if reading his mind, the brunette ran towards him and embraced his lean body. When her body collided with his, he felt as if all those years of loneliness had fleeted like it only happened for days. Cloud's hands ached as he lifted them to bring her closer. He thought that if he'd touch her, she'd melt away like a distant dream. It was a great risk for him to take.

"Is it really too late?" she whispered, her words were muffled barely in his chest.

"No," he replied as he took that chance and hugged her back so very gently like she was a precious china doll. "You're _never_ late for anything."

He thought her lips curve into a smile as he said those last words with sarcasm. She only replied a 'mm, hmm' then, out-of-the-blue, rubbed her nose in his chest. Cloud's eyes widened slightly at her sudden gesture and grinned. She always does that when she's happy.

"Guess some things never change…" he said before pulling Aerith away and frown playfully at her puffy eyes. "I wonder if you've rubbed your nose at other people these past two years."

Aerith pouted at him and lightly slapped his chest with the back of her hand.

"Look who's talking… I bet the girls never leave you alone."

The blonde lowered his head in attempt to hide the color that rushed up his cheeks. The brunette laughed at him so happily that made him disregard his embarrassment and smile along. It had been years since he had ever felt like this and it took great effort to smile so freely. It's as if his lips were molded upside-down since the day she left. But, it didn't matter anymore. She was here and that's more than enough for him.

_Click!_

Both their heads shot up at the sound. Cloud moved Aerith behind him and quickly ran to the edge of the balcony. His eyebrows furrowed when he saw a grinning person below with a camera in hand. After another click and flash, the person dashed towards the opposite building from where they were standing on. Cloud's nostrils flared in pure rage as he raised a foot in the railings of the terrace. Knowing that they were on the 3rd floor and realizing what he was attempting to do, Aerith placed a firm hand on his arm and shook her head. The blonde just grinned at her and jumped down.

_There he goes…_ Aerith sighed inwardly as she began to walk towards the stairway. _Reckless as always…_

Cloud grinded his teeth when his feet collided with the ground. The stinging pain crawled up to his legs and buttocks making him unable to move; however, years of jumping from his window made it disappear just as it appeared. The girl he saw earlier clapped in utter amazement at his daring feat, but decided to make a run for it when she saw him walking towards her, threateningly. Unfortunately for her, Cloud was a remarkable runner from his elementary years. It wasn't that much of an effort for him to catch up and grab the collar of her uniform.

"Who told you to take that picture?!" He hissed as he rummaged through her backpack. "Where's your camera?"

"Don't you even wanna know who _I_ am first?

"No," he replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

The girl's brows furrowed at his apathetic response. "FYI, I am—"

"Cloud!"

Both their heads turned to see Aerith running towards them. She stopped, wheezed, and slapped Cloud's hands from the girl's collar. The blonde and the girl stared at her dumbly as Aerith fixed her clothes that went in disarray. She ignored their faces and turned to smile at the girl.

"I'm sorry for my friend's behavior." To that, Cloud snorted and was once again slapped by Aerith in the arm. "By the way, I'm Aerith…and you are?"

"I'm—"

"We have no time to fool around, Aerith. This girl has—"

When the blonde was about to finish his sentence, the girl caught his ear and slammed it to the ground with the rest of his body. The brunette stared at her agape as the tiny girl cleaned her hands of dirt.

"Why do you always keep on interrupting me?!" The girl kicked dust on Cloud's face and grinned at Aerith. "I'm Yuffie Kisaragi. Nice meeting you~"


End file.
